Dubai's fashion show face-off

Fashion Forward and Fashion Week Middle East arrive in the city

By
Jenny Hewett
30 September 2014

Before bi-annual industry event Fashion Forward (FFWD) bounced on the block almost two years ago, the anchoring ceremony of Dubai’s fashion industry had quite literally fallen off the radar. Those of us in the know waited for the return of Dubai Fashion Week, but it never came. Fact is, until the launch of FFWD in 2013, the city had struggled to hold down a platform for emerging and established designers to showcase their work. With the three-day event now in its fourth season and the debut of Fashion Week Middle East taking place from October 1 to 4, we ask: what’s changed?

‘I think a city or a market needs to have a certain level of maturity for any platform to be truly viable,’ says founder and CEO of FFWD, Bong Guerrero. ‘Platforms like this, they’re not just a spectacle and I think that was the problem. The key players were all very new to the game, couture in this region is only 20 years old, ready-to-wear started about eight to ten years ago and even the concept of multi-brand boutiques is quite new. There has to be commerce and an exchange and a great amount of talent,’ he says. ‘Now is the right time. Dubai as a city has ripened up and it has a very positive appeal to the rest of the fashion world.’ Indeed, where similar events of this scale are predominantly invite-only, FFWD’s draw card is that even your average Joe can score a seat for a small fee.

On the opposite, and slightly more exclusive side of town, four-day Fashion Week Middle East is also offering a small portion of its seats to the public, 20 percent to be exact. Managing director of PR company English-Strickland, Stephanie English-Strickland, pits the event as the more mature of the two. ‘FFWD focuses on education, which is absolutely needed and we support that. They show how designers can improve their businesses and bring speakers to inspire them. Pretty much all of the designers [at FFWD] are from the region or emerging,’ she says. ‘Our designers need to be in business for at least three years and have a stockist here or someplace else where fashion is prominent.’

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Those set to send collections down a magnificent stage setup under DIFC’s iconic The Gate include US designer Charlotte Ronson as well as UAE-based Shrekahnth and Ntombi Couture. Alongside this, Fashion Week Middle East will offer an exchange program, whereby two home-grown designers from the region (local or expat) will show at New York Fashion Week and LA Fashion Week, going forward.

So what is the key to solidifying a seasonal fashion week in Dubai’s future? Stephanie says it lies in avoiding past mistakes. ‘Fashion week should not have a face to it, it should be all about the designers and the sponsors who are involved in it. We don’t need a face for fashion week, period. With that it becomes sustainable.’

Fashion Week Middle EastFrom Dhs100 per person per day for a full-day pass. October 1 to 4. The Gate, DIFC (www.fashionweekme.com).